Apparatus for handling and delivering boxes or packages from one elevation to another



W. G. PRICE.

APPARATUS FOB-H NDLING AND DELIVERING BOXES OR PACKAGES FROM ONE ELEVATION TO ANOTHER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23.1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. G. PRICE.

APPARMUS FOR HANDLING AND DELIVERING BOXES 0R PACKAGES FROM ONE ELEVATION TO ANOTHER.

' APPllCA lON FILED J'UNE 23, 1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

WILLIAM G. PRICE, E YAKIMA, WASHINGTON.

APPARATUS roe HANDLING AND nniivnnme BOXES 0a raoxaens anon: one

ELEVATION TO ANOTHER.

Application filed June 23,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. Peron, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Yakima, in the county of Yakima and State of \Vashington, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Handling and Delivering Boxes or Packages from One Elevation to Another; and

I I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

M invention relates to apparatus for han ling and delivering boxesor packages from one elevation to another.

The object'of my invention is to provide apparatus of this character in which articles such as loose or uncovered and packed boxes of fruit, for instance, may be automatically delivered to an elevator for delivering the same to a higher elevation, and also to provide means for automatically discharging the boxes after they arrive at such higher elevation, the boxes being so handled during such 0 erations as to be free from jolts or jars w ich are liable to injure the fruit, or from danger of upsetting and spilling the fruit during the course of transportation. A further object of the invention is to dispense with the manual labor heretofore gen erally employed for placing the boxes on the brackets or supports of the elevator and removin vators usually run at a high rate of speed, it is a diflicult matter, by manual labor, to keep up with the elevator, and consequently men frequently failed to feed or take off the boxes at the proper time, so that the result was that the boxes were often spilled on the floor and the fruit injured and time lost due to such accidents.

To these ends my invention comprises the novel features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation partly broken away of my improved apparatus showing the same partly in section; Fig. 2 is a like view of a' lower portion of the elevator showing the automatic delivery of the boxes thereto, the stop being shown as lowered. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan View of the automatic feeding mechanism at the lower end of the elevator;

- and Fig. 5 is a like view of the automatic disthe same after they have reached the polnt of higher elevation. As these ele- 1919. Serial No. 306,239.

. charging mechanism at the upper end of the which support the boxes as they move down said gravity-carrier. I do not, however, wish to limit my invention to the use of a gravity carrier.

The elevator frame 3 extends from the floor A to floor B at any suitable angle, and

is supported'at the upper floor B by the braces 10 secured by the bolts 11. The sprocket-chain belts 4 are supported by the timbers 5 of the elevator frame, and are pre vented from slipping therefrom by guide pieces 6. The sprocket-chains carry the box supporting brackets 7 having the braces 3 pivotally secured thereto at 9. The braces 8 are rigidly connected together by the bolt 12. The brackets 7 and the braces 8 are journaled on rods 13 and 13*, respectively. The ends of the rods 13 and 13 are riveted or otherwise secured to the links of the sprocket chain, the links preferably employed being generally known to the trade as A 1 R and A 1 L. Each of the rods 13 and 13 is divided as shown on Fig. 4 and is re ceived within pipe sections 14, said pipe sections acting as spacing members for the brackets 7 and braces 8 so as to maintain them at the proper distance apart. This arrangement of the rods 13 and 13 in the pipe section 14 permits of easy separation of the parts for renewal of the special links employed, as above, which carry the load of the boxes, and consequently the Wear on said links is greater than on the ordinary links of the chain. This construction also permits the brackets 7 and braces 8 to be easily removed in case of their being broken. The rods 13 which are connected to the braces 8 have the wheels 62 which travel on the are keyed to the shaft 17.

pass around the driving-sprockets 16 which is driven by any suitable power.

The sprocket-wheel 23 is keyed to the shaft 17 and drives the sprocket-chain 24 which drives the sprocket-wheel 25 keyed to shaft 26.

The sprocket-wheels 27 are keyed to the shaft 26 and they drive the sprocket-chains 28 which are carried on'the idler-sprockets 29 mounted loosely on the shaft 17. The sprocket-wheels 16 and 29 are the same diameter and carry the same size of sprocketchain.

The sprocket-wheel 23 is larger than the sprocket-wheel 16 and the sprocket-wheel 25 is smaller than the sprocket-wheel 27, the sprocket-chain 24 being smaller than the sprocket-chains 28. By this arrangement, the sprocket-chains 28 are driven at a higher speed than the sprocket-chains 4 for the purpose more fully hereinafter set forth.

At the upper end of the elevator is the carrier 32 preferably inclined to operate as a gravity-carrier.

The frame of the gravity-carrier 2 is hinged to the elevator frame 3 by the bolts 33 and is supported by the braces 34, which are fastened to'pins 35 in the elevator-frame 3. By swinging the braces 34 down and inserting the pins 35 through the holes 36the gravity carrier 2 will be inclined away from the elevator so that the boxes lowered by the elevator will be carried away by the movement of the elevator chain belts reversed.

The brackets 37 and 38 are bolted to the gravity-carrier 2. The brackets 38 extend beyond the brackets 37 and are bent upward. The bracket 39 is formed of a plate of steel with the ends 39 bent upward to form supports for the pin 40 which passes through said bent up portions. The bracket 39 carries the bolt 41 which passes through the frame of the gravity-carrier 2 and a spring 42 is interposed between said frame and a nut on said bolt.

The stop-frame 43 is journaled on the pin- 40 and has the upturned stops 44. These stops 44 arrest the movement of the boxes ends 44 were notround, as shown, they would catch between the bottom boards and prevent the box from moving on to the bracket 7, and as the bracket was raised,

said brackets would upset the box. The stop-frame 43 carries the pin 45; A forked lever 46 is mounted to swing on the pin 45 and said forked lever carries the pin 47. The links 48 are journaled on the pin 47, and said links carry the pin 49 which is journaled in the bracket 50 fastened by the bolts 51 to the gravity-frame 2.

The links 48 carry pin 53 upon which the lever 54 is journaled, and said lever has the notch 55 which passes through the fork of the lever 46. The lever'46 carries the pin 56, which is adapted to engage the notch 55. The lever 54 carries the cam lug 58 which is in the path of and adapted to be engaged by the bolt 12 of the bracket-frame 7 so that the movement of said bolt in engagement with the lug 58 moves the lever 54 upward and leaves the notch 55 free of the pin-56, whereupon the cam-surface 57 of the lug 58 engages the pin 56 and the further movement of the lever54 is effected.

' In the operation of the apparatus, the boxes 30 of loose or packed fruit are placed upon the gravity-carrier 1. where such gravity carrier is employed, and move automatically down said carrier traveling on the idlers 2 and onto the gravity section 2 until.

the boxes are brought to a standstill by coming into engagement with the stops 44. But owing to. the resiliency of the stopframe 43 hereinbefore described, the jar or shock due to the stoppage of the box is relieved and the fruit is not bruised or injured.

'In the meantime one of the brackets 7 comes around in position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, so that the bolt 12 comes into contact with the cam-lug 58, and by the further movement of said bracket the cam-lug lifts the lever 54 and frees the pin 56 from the notch 55. As said cam-lug continues to move upward, the cam-portion 57 engages the pin 56 and the further movement of the lever 54 is continued and when the bolt 12 lifts the lug 58, said bolt engages the pin 56 and continues the movement of the lever until said lever and the parts connected therewith are brought to the position indicated in Fig. 2 with the stop frame lowered to permit the box to pass down the gravity carrier 2. By this time, however, the bracket which has lifted the preceding box has reached such a height that the box just released from the stops 44moves in against the ends 60 of the brackets 7. The ends 60 then slide up on the side of the box without lifting it, and after the brackets 7 are clear of the box, the box moves against the braces 8 and as the braces 8 pass upwardly, the box slides gently in against their inclined surface until the box rests against the guide easaea piece 6 of the elevator frame. The box thus moves to its proper place for being lifted Wvithout suliicient ar or shock to bruise the fruit.

In the meantime, the weight of the levers 4:6 and 54 has lifted the stop-frame 43 to position for arresting the movement of the next succeeding box, the notch 55 engaging the pin 56, and in this way the parts are locked in position to receive the succeeding box.

As the box is carried up by the elevator and reaches the upper end thereof as indicated in Fig. 1, the box passes onto the conveyer belts 28, which as hereinbefore stated, are traveling at a faster speed than the belts 4, so that the said belts 28 will tend to pull the box along at a faster'rate. The

brackets 7 also begin to swing up and move the box faster. The belts4 are moving, but the belts 28 pull the box faster than the brackets 7 push it, which causes the box to slide down on the brackets so that by this combined action the box is delivered onto the gravity-carrier 32. By this arrangement the boxes of loose fruit are not tipped far enough for the fruit to roll out, and even if the carrier 43 is not inclined, the brackets will push a continuous row of boxes along the carrier 32.

By the use of my invention, the placing of boxes of fruit directly on the elevator and taking them off by hand is done away with.

The boxes can be placed instead on a gravity carrier any ,desired distance from the bottom of the elevator, and they will be delivered automatically on a gravity conveyer any desired distance beyond the top of the elevator.,

What I claim is: l. A conveyer comprising an inclined endless carrier, article supports mounted to,

move with the said carrier and adapted to rise above the top 'of the said carrier while passing the upper end thereof, and braces connected to said support for maintaining the loads carried by said supp lrts substantially level whilepassing above the upper end of, the said carrier.

2. A vconveyer comprising an inclin frame, sprocket wheels at the top and bottom of the said frame, an endless chain mounted on the said sprocket wheels, article supports carried by the said chains and adapted to pass around and above the said upper sprocket wheels, and means for maintainin the loads carried by s'aidsupports in article holding position while so passing around the said upfper sprocket wheels.

3. In apparatus or elevating articles, the

combination of a traveling conveyer, a!

bracket carried by the conveyer for supporting the articles to be elevated, a carrier for delivering the article to said bracket, a pivotally mounted-stop device in the path of the said article, a lever connected to said stop-device, a pin on said lever, a lever having a notch adapted to engage said pin, a

ing on said last-named lever 1n the path of movement of said bracket whereby by the movement of said bracket said stop-device is lowered, means for raisingsaid stopdevice, and relocking same in position after said bracket disengages from said lug.

4. In apparatus for elevating articles, the combination of a traveling conveyer, a

1 bracket carried by said conveyer for supadapted to engage said pin to raise said firstnamed lever, and said pin being in the path of the movement of said bracket to be engaged thereby to further lift said lever whereby said stop-device is lowered, the weight of said levers act to bring said parts to normal position to lock said stop-device in raised position.

5. In apparatus'for elevating articles, the

combination of a traveling conveyer, a bracket carried. thereby for supporting the article to be elevated, anda seoond inclined traveling belt at the upper end of said firstnamed conveyer, means adapted to receive the article from said bracket, and means for moving said second-named conveyer at a faster speed than said first-named conveyer, whereby the ar.ic1e is maintained in a substantially horizontal position. whileileaving said first-named conveyer.

6. In apparatus for elevating articles, the

combination of a traveling conveyer, a bracket carried thereby for supporting the article to'be elevated, and a second inclined traveling conveyer at the upper end of said first-named conveyer, means adapted to receive the article from said bracket, means for moving said second 'named conveyer at a faster speed than said first-named conveyer, whereby the article is maintained in a substantially horizontal position while leaving said first-named conveyer, and a carrier beyond said second-named conveyer,

7. In a machine for elevating articles, the combination of a traveling conveyer, a

bracket carried by said conveyer comprising articulated members, an inclined travelin conveyer disposed at the upper end of sai first-named conveyer, and adapted to receive an article from said bracket, and means for moving said second-named conveyer at a higher rate of speed than said first-named conveyer, whereby the article is maintained in a substantially horizontal position while leaving said-first-named conveyer, the said articulated member being adapted, when said bracket delivers said article to said second-named conveyer, to push said article on said second-named conveyer.

8. In a machine for elevating articles, the combination of a traveling conveyer, a bracket carried by said conveyer comprising articulated members, an inclined traveling conveyer disposed at the upper end of said first-named conveyer, and adapted to receive an article from said bracket, means for moving said second-named conveyer at a higher rate of speed than said first-named conveyer, the said articulated member being adapted, when said bracket delivers said article to said second-named conveyer, to push said article on said second-named conveyer, and a carrier beyond said secondnamed belt.

9. In a conveyer, the combination of two parallel endless members, articulated article supports carried by said endless members, and divided rods and tubular spacing members also carried by said endless members, the said articulated article supports being carried by said divided rods, and said tubular spacing members surrounding the said rods.

10. In a conveyer the combination of a frame, parallel endless chains carried by the naaeaea said frame, and article supporting brackets carried by the said chains, each of the said brackets comprising two pairs of bars, each pair being pinned together atone end and journaled on axles at their other ends, each of the said axles consisting of a divided rod having its ends secured to the said chains and a tubular spacing member surrounding each of the said divided rods.

11. In an elevator the combination of a frame, two parallel endless members carried by the said frame, tracks adjacent to the said link members, wheels carried by the said belts and adapted to run on the said tracks, and article supporting brackets carried by the said members associated with the said Wheels, each of the said brackets comprisin two pairs of bars, each pair being pinne together at one end and having their other ends spread apart and journaled on axles, each of the said axles comprising a divided rod having its ends secured to the saidbelts, and a tubular spacing member surrounding each-of the said rods.

In testimony whereof, I the said WILLIAM G. PRICE, have hereunto set my hand.

VILLIAM G. PRICE.

Witnesses Ms S. MORTON, Groacn M. Moaron. 

